TMA urges the adoption of improved processes for obtaining disability benefits from the Veterans Administration. These benefits are crucial as they entitle former service members to comprehensive healthcare, disability compensation, travel allowances for medical appointments, medical equipment, a disability housing grant to adapt their home, stipends for their spouse as a caregiver, and a variety of other assistance.
TMA calls upon the Veterans Benefits Administration at the US Department of Veterans Affairs to approve a presumptive service connection for veterans with IBM. This would mean that if a former service member is diagnosed with IBM, they would automatically receive 100% disability benefits, as it would be presumed that their IBM is directly related to their military service exposure.
Urge Congress to Support Veterans with IBM! Deadline Friday, October 23
The final deadline for Members of Congress to sign the “Make IBM Presumptive” Dear Colleague Letter is this Friday, October 23.
We have made important progress, with 49 signatories on the letter so far. There is still time to add more Congressional support before the deadline. Your advocacy can help make that happen.
Our letter respectfully urges the VA to evaluate adding IBM to its list of presumptive conditions so that affected Veterans can receive fair and timely access to the benefits they have earned.
Please submit TMA’s Action Alert with the RARE Foundation. Every message helps keep this issue in front of Congressional offices. But in these final days, please do not rely on the Action Alert alone. Pick up the phone and call. The Capitol Hill switchboard at (202) 224-3121 can connect you to your Representative and Senators.
To sign on to the letter, your Representative should contact Georgios D. Karides, Legislative Counsel in the office of Rep. Bilirakis at [email protected] or Hannah Cooper, Deputy Chief of Staff/Legislative Director, in the office of Rep. Elfreth at [email protected].
Thank You to Elected Officials Supporting Veterans with IBM
We are grateful to the Members of Congress who have signed on or committed their support.
The leads in the House are: Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL-12), Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA-4), and Rep. Sarah Elfreth (D-MD-3).
Rep. Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ-3)
Rep. Jim Baird (R-IN-4)
Rep. Aaron Bean (R-FL-4)
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH-3)
Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-GA-2)
Rep. André Carson (D-IN-7)
Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-NY-9)
Rep. Don Davis (D-NC-1)
Rep. Jake Ellzey (R-TX-6)
Rep. Cleo Fields (D-LA-6)
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-8)
Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC-4)
Rep. Clay Fuller (R-GA-14)
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ-5)
Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-AZ-7)
Rep. J. French Hill (R-AR-2)
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA-2)
Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO-3)
Rep. Henry “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (D-GA-4)
Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA-37)
Rep. Greg Landsman (D-OH-1)
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY-17)
Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-18)
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL-13)
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA-8)
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11)
Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA-6)
Rep. Sarah McBride (D-DE-AL)
Rep. Rich McCormick (R-GA-7)
Rep. James McGovern (D-MA-2)
Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC-5)
Rep. August Pfluger (R-TX-11)
Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL-5)
Rep. Emily Randall (D-WA-6)
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD-8)
Rep. María Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27)
Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL-7)
Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-IL-17)
Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM-1)
Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY-3)
Rep. Jill Tokuda (D-HI-2)
Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI-3)
Rep. Gabriel “Gabe” Vasquez (D-NM-2)
Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-VA-7)
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ-12)
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
See these investigative media reports about this issue:
- News video – Let’s get these benefits to our veterans
- News article – Let’s get these benefits to our veterans: New push in Congress to make access to benefits easier for rare disease
- Diagnosis Denied: An Investigative Documentary 11Alive WXIA-TV News
- Other media coverage
Learn more:
- “Dear Colleague” letter to VA Secretary Doug Collins that requests consideration of amending Title 38 § 3.318 to include IBM as a presumptive service-connected condition under VA regulation
- Overview about why presumptive status should be applied to IBM
- TMA blog about the National Academies review of IBM
- TMA’s Military Veterans with Myositis Affinity Group
